HER test equivocal??

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ForHisGlory
ForHisGlory Member Posts: 64
edited October 2014 in HER2+ (Positive) Breast Cancer

I have been recently diagnosed with IDC, .7mm, clinical stage 1, ER+, PR+, HER equivocal and sent for FISH test.  Should I be prepared for HER test to be positive?  Does this change which surgery I should choose??  The DR said this means I have to have chemo.  JW how many come back negative?  Had BRCA testing done today, waiting those results as well.  

Trying to digest all of these different possibilities, and the decisions that go with them. Thanks for any input!  Struggling with the decision to do mastectomy or lumpectomy.

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited September 2014

    Can you clarify your tumor size? You have it as .7mm in your post, is that correct? If so, this is quite small and it does have an effect on treatment choices. An equivocal Her2 test result means that the initial test did not provide enough information to firmly indicate that it was positive or negative. It is standard to re-test using a different testing method. My understanding is that about 5% of Her2 tests come back equivocal, but I don't know what percentage of that 5% returns with a positive result when re-tested.

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  • ForHisGlory
    ForHisGlory Member Posts: 64
    edited September 2014

    Oops 7mm or .7 cm. Having a mri to make sure that is the only tumor because they said my breast tissue is extremely dense.  Thanks for classifying the surgery piece for me! 

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  • besa
    besa Member Posts: 1,088
    edited September 2014

    http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/754304

    "HER2 Gene Amplification in Patients with Breast Cancer with Equivocal IHC Results" J Clin Pathol. 2011;64 (12):1069-1072.   This is just one study but it is a fairly large sample size
    -- according to the above study 21.3 % of people with equivocal immunohistochemistry
    (IHC) for HER2 were positive for FISH .

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited September 2014

    It looks like the study that besa linked shows that approximately the same percentage of patients with equivocal test results on the first methodology are Her2+, as there are in the overall population of breast cancer patients.  So, no greater percentage than regular odds based on the first inconclusive test.

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  • ForHisGlory
    ForHisGlory Member Posts: 64
    edited October 2014

    thanks ladies! 

    Guess I'll just continue this waiting game instead of trying to figure this out on my own. Looks like it's still a toss up!

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